Archives for Environmental

While we wish that we had 12 fun facts about water and our use of water on Earth, reality dictates that we share a more somber picture today. So, for World Water Day 2016, we present some shocking statistics from “12 Facts And Things To Know” about water:

It is estimated that approximately 1.8 billion people around the world do not have access to safe water.

Globally, one out of every three schools lacks access to safe water and does not have adequate sanitation.

In low and middle income countries, one out of every three healthcare facilities lacks a safe water source.

The World Economic Forum in January 2015 ranked the water crisis as the No. 1 global risk based on impact to society (as a measure of devastation).

More than 160 million instances of children suffering from stunting and chronic malnutrition can get traced back to a lack of safe, clean drinking water and poor (if any) sanitation.

Rural areas of the world are home to more than 80 percent of people who don’t have access to “improved” water.

A third of the world’s population lacks access to a proper toilet. By comparison, fewer people lack cellphones than toilets.

Around the world each day, women and children spend 125 million hours collecting fresh water for their families. It is not uncommon for individuals to spend as much as 6 hours a day on the task of collecting fresh water.

If you watch a clock for 1 1/2 minutes, a child has died from a water-related disease.

Implementing universal access to safe water and sanitation would result in more than an estimated $18 billion in economic benefits EACH YEAR just from the prevention of deaths alone. That would be a return of about $4 for every dollar spent to create the access to safe drinking water that prevented the deaths.

If the planet as a whole does not change the (gluttonous, evil) ways it manages water on the planet, the amount of safe water available for use could drop by around 40 percent in the next 15 years.

Wow. If that list did not alarm you, then read it and re-read it until common sense kicks in and you feel a chill down your back. Our water situation looks bleak and unless something changes — meaning unless WE make changes — the situation will only get worse.

Right now at this very moment some of you reading this are thinking, “I’m so glad that sort of horrible stuff isn’t happening near me.” Well, you’re WRONG because it IS happening near you. Just ask Flint, Michigan residents, folks living in communities where the water wells started running dry years ago, folks living near coal ash dumps in North Carolina, folks in Texas whose water contains frightening arsenic levels, folks who lived on or near military bases whose fuel depots leaked in ‘secret’ for many years… and the list keeps getting longer.

What we do with the water today dictates explicitly how much water we will have tomorrow.

The fight between Autism researchers and industry rages on as researchers claim pollution of the environment by industrial processes not properly monitored or regulated has resulted in young people getting exposed to harmful contaminants… and subsequently developing signs of Autism.

Naturally big business and industry giants claim the ‘link’ between environmental pollutants and increased numbers of children getting diagnosed with Autism fails to hold water, but no matter what, two facts remain: 1) Our environment continues to get polluted by a seemingly endless number of hazardous and not-‘yet’-defined-as-hazardous, chemicals and compounds; 2) More and more kids keep getting diagnosed with Autism and similar conditions each year.

Whether a link truly exists between those two facts or not, we see two problems that either need to get solved together or solved separately. Either way they need to get SOLVED.

As the title of this article suggested, we recently ran across a list of ten chemicals highly suspected as possible causes of Autism and other learning or developmental disabilities. The list comes from an article on the Prevention.Com web site.

As a society we have already dumped way too many compounds and chemicals into the environment without fully understanding the impact that most of them by themselves will have on future generations… let alone the impact that they ALL will have when combined in our food and water supplies.

Do the chemicals in the list above cause Autism? Some say, “Yes!” and others say, “No!” We say get the chemicals out of the water supply (be it ground water OR tap water, by the way!) and see what happens.

recently we received a request from ‘Nick’ regarding hydrogen sulfide and methane in his well water. Nick asked, “My 316′ water well has started producing gas along with water. My guess is that it is either methane or hydrogen sulfide. I have purchased your HS test online and wonder if you test for methane.”

Good morning, Nick, and thank you for contacting us about your well water situation. First off, we would like to know why you suspect ‘contamination by gas’ in your well water? Do you smell a particular scent or detect an unusual taste?

Methane, on the other hand, has no natural scent or smell to it. The smell associated with methane often resembles that of hydrogen sulfide gas because utility companies and commercial distributors of methane often mix trace amounts of hydrogen sulfide gas with the methane to aid in leak detection.

As far as testing for methane goes, the gas typically volatilizes very quickly at ambient (room) temperature and therefore testing for it in drinking water becomes extremely difficult.

Something else to consider: If you detect a sulfur smell ONLY when running hot water, you may have a problem with your hot water heater.

Location, location, location…

The real estate market has touted that phrase for years as one of the most important factors in determining the value of property.

With that in mind, when it comes to well water quality, the ‘value’ (quality) of well water depends greatly on the placement of the well.

We see that you hail from Texas. By any chance do you live in an area where natural gas harvesting takes place or has taken place recently? If so, or if you live in close proximity to industrial parks or other potential sources of chemicals that could leak into the ground, basic at-home water test kits will more than likely not cover all the bases and you may want to consider laboratory testing

Regarding testing options, you can either contact a local water testing laboratory (your local board of health should have a list of qualified laboratories in your area) and have them perform analyses on your water or you may want to consider using mail-in use water testing services like National Testing Laboratories.

Moral of the story?

While pretty much everyone knows we suggest a regular regimen of well water testing (at the very least annually for things like coliform bacteria, nitrates, nitrites, arsenic, heavy metals, etc.), we ALSO think it of paramount importance that people do NOT procrastinate when it comes to testing their water if/when they suspect a problem.

Taking the time to perform the testing required to effectively and efficiently diagnose a water quality problem always makes sense! Remember: It’s your water, your health, and ultimately… your LIFE!

Earlier this week we discussed (again) the horrifying events unfolding at the disabled Fukushima reactor in Japan involving large amounts of radioactive waste water making its way out into the Pacific Ocean. Today we regretfully bring news of around 230,000 gallons of… molasses leaking from a ruptured pipe located on the coast of Hawaii.

Yes, you read that correctly: 230,000 gallons of molasses oozed from a broken pipe as the Maston Navigation Company attempted to transfer a shipment of molasses from holding tanks on land to an oceangoing transport ship bound for somewhere in California.

Hawaii’s Department of Health stated that 100’s of fish have already died and that the death toll could reach a number in the 1,000’s.

230,000 gallons of molasses weighs about 1,400 tons.

News outlets have shown images of fish sticking their ‘mouths’ out of the water in an effort to breathe because the thick, syrupy molasses (which tinted the water a nasty shade of bright brown) certainly contained less breathable oxygen than regular, untainted ocean water.

Bodies of dead and dying fish, eels, crabs and other creatures litter the ocean floor near the site of the accidental spill… causing officials to suggest people avoid entering the water due to the risk of predators (you know… friendly creatures like sharks and barracuda) picking up the scent of all the death and coming by for an easy meal.

As of the time we wrote this article, no decision as to whether or not Maston would face charges for violating the Clean Water Act. We would like to think, however, that once all the dust (or in this case molasses) settles, someone other than the taxpayers will get stuck footing the bill for the cleanup of this sticky mess.

Sorry for the bad pun.

Officials plan to take water samples around the spill area periodically so they can determine when the molasses has dissipated sufficiently — OR possibly drifted out to sea as an amorphous, oxygen-replacing blob.

Stories like this make us wonder how many other accidental spills take place around us that no one — other than those directly involved in the spills — ever finds out about.

Test kits for molasses?

Uh, no, not really. Last we checked molasses did not appear on the EPA’s list of Primary Drinking Water Standards and we suspect that even after this spill, no one will petition the EPA to add it to the list.

Moral of the story?

Disasters like this one, the recent killing off of fish in a 40 kilometer stretch of the Fuhe River (by an ammonia discharge from a chemical plant) in China, and the radioactive debacle at the Fukushima nuclear reactor site in Japan will continue to happen so we suggest staying vigilant, watching the news for word of environmental issues in your area, and, of course, testing your water periodically.

Perhaps you may not ever test for molasses or radioactive materials, but you may possibly have a need at some point to test for more common drinking water contaminants like heavy metals (i.e. iron, copper, lead, etc.), pesticides, volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), and others.

Today we read an article on Yahoo that contained seemingly one piece of bad news after another. For your convenience we will attempt to highlight the horrors taking place at the crippled TEPCO controlled nuclear power plant below:

Earlier this week workers at the Fukushima site reported finding levels of known radioactive (and carcinogenic) materials like strontium in well water samples taken very recently. Health experts say materials like strontium build up in bones where they may eventually cause cancer.

TEPCO stated that it now seems pretty likely that contaminated water leaking from the Fukushima site may have reached underground waterways that take water from land out towards the sea and testing of some ground water samples showed concentrations of up 3,200 becquerels per liter. By comparison, drinking water ought not contain more than 10 becquerels of radioactivity per liter.

In a statement made previously, personnel at the Fukushima site stated that around 300 tons of mildly polluted water runs into the Pacific Ocean each day in underground currents of ground water — and now tests show that unsafe levels of radioactive materials may exist as unwanted component of that continually flowing river of pollution into the Pacific Ocean.

The recent news of ground water contamination greatly complicates the plan of putting in an ‘ice barrier’ around the plant to keep ground water from becoming contaminated.

Samples of ocean water taken from offshore locations have not (yet) turned up positive for contamination.

TEPCO and the Japanese Government have both stated that they would entertain discussions with non-Japanese sources regarding possible solutions for the Fukushima radioactive waste water situation.

The article also mentioned Tokyo, Japan’s successful bid to host the 2020 Olympics… but honestly WE DON’T CARE about the 2020 Olympics when something desperately needs to get done to stop the flow of radioactive water and materials into the Pacific Ocean.

Let us not forget how Godzilla ‘supposedly’ got mutated: Radioactivity. At this point no one seems to know WHAT’s on the full list of radioactive materials that has already made its way into subterranean waterways headed into the ocean OR exactly WHERE all those contaminants have gone — except out into the sea… someplace… they think.

Coming to a beach near you…

Anyone who believes waste products from the Fukushima reactor site cannot reach their country needs to spend a few minutes researching past and present news stories about debris from the 2011 tsunami in Asia washing up on shorelines all around the world.

Due to a lack of carcasses in Chinese rivers recently, Chinese officials proudly announced yesterday that authorities working along the Fuhe River in the Hubei Province had successfully removed more than 100,000 kilograms of dead fish from a roughly 40 kilometer stretch of water in the past day or so.

OK, so maybe the REAL and ACTUAL announcement came with a lot less enthusiasm and joy…

All kidding aside,

The waters of the Fuhe River in this area turned an eerie silver color due to all the deceased fish floating to the surface.

Chinese officials believe they have traced the problem back to a chemical manufacturing facility in Yingcheng located outside the city of Wuhan.

Authorities took water samples from a discharge pipe from the Yingcheng facility and determined that they contained ammonia concentrations in excess of 190 milligrams per liter… when ‘natural’ ammonia concentrations in the environment usually measure around 0.2 milligrams per liter (with some naturally occurring concentrations reaching a little over 10 milligrams per liter) according to the World Health Organization.

The company responsible for operating the plant received orders from the Government to suspend all operations until the cause of this pollution — and probably several other environmental nightmares not, yet made public — get corrected.

This massive killing off of fish as a result of environmental pollution comes on the heels of 1,000’s of pig carcasses floating down a different river in China earlier this year.

In a related news story, China has some SERIOUS pollution issues that it needs to deal with… and needs to deal with QUICKLY. It’s large population and recent (practically unbridled) economic growth (aka: economic explosion) over the past few years (seem to) have greatly outpaced the country’s ability to manage industrial waste streams and protect the environment.

Now before some of you think we have jumped on the ‘pick on China bandwagon’ that has circled around once more, please try to remember that practically NO modern, industrialized country on this planet made the transition from mostly agricultural to highly industrialized without sever growing pains — and instances of mass pollution.

Oh, and as for all the recent allegations of bribes going to Chinese officials if they would turn a blind eye to the illegal dumping of chemicals and waste products into the environment, well, please highlight an example of a fast-growing nation streaming towards mass industrialization that did or does not have that same problem.

No, we do NOT condone the blatant disregard for environmental standards that we have witnessed in China recently and NO we do not intend to DEFEND China’s history of telling the rest of the world to go scratch while it exploits and pollutes its natural resources in spite of the rest of the world’s pleas for China to show moderation in the way it utilizes those resources.

And in the end…

We DO hope that the world will take note of this tragic loss of aquatic life in the Fuhe River and press China to enact (and enforce!) stricter environmental regulations while holding past offenders responsible for the many environmental messes they’ve created by coercing them to clean up those messes.

You may read more on the horrific Fuhe River environmental debacle here.

We have not done this in a while, so today we will provide a list of common water quality problems/situations along with possible causes… and water testing options designed to help homeowners properly assess their individual water quality situations.

The link above also featured a list of potential reason for one to test their water. See below, please, and keep in mind that neither the list above nor the list below serves as an all-inclusive list of reason to test one’s water supply. Many other hazardous water quality situations exist other than the ones in this article!

We recently discussed a few technologies that turned ‘used’ water into potable water. In each article we stated that although the technologies seemed to work quite well, neither technology currently gets used as a means of producing water for human consumption… and now for something totally different!

Headline from Perth (Australia) article: “RECYCLED water from showers, washing machines and toilets will be pumped into Perth’s underground drinking water supply after the State Government today officially signed off on a plan by the Water Corporation.” ( source )

There you have it, folks. An area often plagued by drought in recent years (caused by global warming or just another hot spell?) has turned to recycled water as a means of ‘drought-proofing’ itself against future water shortages.

Is recycled water safe to use (i.e. drink)?

According to the article, water experts in the Perth area did not take the idea of its citizens drinking recycled water lightly.

Research and trials involving an isolated aquifer cost more than $116M and lasted for a period of about 3 years. During that time more than 2 billion liters of wastewater from a designated water treatment plant discharged its product (treated to meet Australian drinking water standards) into the aquifer.

Drinking water experts regularly tested water in the aquifer for things like bacterial and fecal contamination for the full three years — the study/trial ended in December 2012 — and even now test results still come back clean. All in all more than 62,000 water samples got tested!

How long until the system goes live?

As long as no ‘surprises’ come to light, the recycled water will enter the infrastructure supplying homes and businesses in June of 2016… though for three years the water treatment plant has pumped its recycled water into the ground and a definite possibility exists that some of that recycled water may have already snaked its way through underground crevices into aquifers currently in use.

If the first phase of the water recycling project works as planned once brought online, two more water projects may go online in the next few years, as well.

Would we support the use of recycled water for drinking?

We said it before and we will say it, again: Given the option of drinking non-recycled versus recycled water we will always choose non-recycled… BUT we also know the day fast approaches when the option of non-recycled water may no longer exist — because humans have all but ruined the planet’s supply of fresh, potable water.

So, we tip our hats to the hardworking folks in Perth who engineered and executed this test of current water filtering and water recycling technology — because when the day comes for us all to take our first sips of recycled water at least we now know the technology exists to make the water ‘safe’ for consumption by accepted drinking water standards.

Water testing close to home…

As many of you know, we STRONGLY believe in home water testing and especially so for folks that draw their water from a private water well.

City/Municipal/Tap Water Customers: Granted the water from your faucet tested fine at the point when it left the water plant, but one never can tell when a water quality issue may develop at a point between the water plant and your faucet.

Well Water Users: No one tests your water at any point and environmental factors like heavy rainfall, lack of rainfall, and environment pollution by industry, agriculture or a faulty septic system all can change the quality and safety of your water without warning.

The majority of US residents — including ourselves — have a tendency to forget about and take for granted the fact that we have safe, clean running water at our fingertips each and every day.

Thirsty? Get up and get a glass of water. Dirty? Hop in the shower. Lawn turning brown? Turn on the irrigation system.

But… what will happen when all that lovely water we have grown accustomed to suddenly goes away? How will we survive? CAN we survive?

Crisis aborted

Thousands of people in the Maryland nearly found themselves in a situation where they would have had to answer that question… for as many as five whole days due to problems with a critical water main installed a long time ago that started to show signs of its age (i.e. the thing is breaking down) and now needs to get replaced.

Thankfully engineers claim to have devised a plan that will allow water to flow to the community while the repairs take place. Granted certain water use restrictions will exist for the duration of the repairs, but at least people will have the ability to enjoy a cold glass of water and flush toilets.

What have we learned?

Wise people learn from good times, bad times, and times that could have gone either way… or at least they SHOULD.

A good amount of the United States’ infrastructure has remained in place and virtually untouched (except for urgently needed repairs) and now the time has come for 1 of 2 things to happen: 1) We can sit and do nothing while it all falls apart and crises like the one narrowly avoided start happening with regularity; or 2) Take a long, hard look at the condition of our water systems and start performing repairs BEFORE things break to the point where the water must get turned off (or shuts itself off!).

A recently released report by the Environment Agency (EA) stated that 81 out of 647 drinking water sources in England and Wales contained detectable levels of a slug poison called metaldehyde. ( source )

Health and safety experts in the EA claim the levels detected pose no danger to the environment or humans… but other folks, like ourselves, believe the introduction of ANY foreign compound into the environment or human body poses, on some level, a risk.

Some environmentalists argue that a MUCH better slug preventative exists and has ALWAYS existed. Creatures like hedgehogs, frogs, toads, wild birds, predatory nematodes, and carabid beetles whose numbers have dwindled (as a result of mankind’s actions!) love to munch on slugs!

*** Pause for dramatic effect while you think about chewing on a slug ***

By re-introducing more natural predators of the slug into the picture environmentalists theorize that farmers could become less reliant on poisons that contain metaldehyde.

And in conclusion?

Whether you live in England or Wales where slugs need killing or near the Mississippi River where nitrate levels have risen this year, the risk of drinking water contamination as a result of runoff will always exist. That fact alone should make each and every one of us want to stay vigilant and monitor the quality of the water we drink.

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Once you have properly tested your drinking water and learned what quality issues may need attention, then you can begin your search for the right water treatment system to address your unique water quality concerns!